4 arrested for chasing women travelling in car

Four men who allegedly gang-raped a doctor after abducting her in an auto in Katpadi in 2022 were sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment by the Mahila Court in Vellore.

- HT Correspondent

CHENNAI:

The incident had caused a political outrage in the state then, leading to the opposition parties demanding stringent action on the perpetrators.

Police identified the suspects arrested in the crime as Parthiban, an auto driver, Mani alias Manikandan, a daily wage worker, and his friends, Bharath and Santhosh. The fifth suspect, a juvenile, is facing trial before the juvenile justice board, police said.

They were produced before the Vellore sessions judge (fast track Mahila court) S Maheshwari Banurekha on Thursday, who awarded the sentences and imposed a fine of ₹25,000 on each of them.

The victim, who was from Bihar, along with her male colleague from Nagpur were returning home after watching a movie in Katpadi in Vellore district on March 16, 2022, at 12.30 a.m. when the auto-borne gang of five convinced them to board the vehicle claiming it to be a shared auto.